


Experiential Data

by VigilantShadow



Category: The Secret World
Genre: Bad Fashion (or is it good?), Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Theme park dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 16:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14918654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VigilantShadow/pseuds/VigilantShadow
Summary: She's an android and agent of The Dragon, searching for new data points to add to her chart of human experiences. He's an Illuminati handler, and one of the outliers she has always found fascinating. And more importantly one of the only people she can convince to participate in her idea of a good couple's outfit. Three scenes from the relationship between two field agents.Written for The Apiary





	1. First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> Owen and Hana meet for the first time through their mutual friend (and Hana's roommate) Therese.   
> Owen wears a denim atrocity. Hana investigates the composition of a cannoli. Therese regrets.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen and Hana meet for the first time through their mutual friend (and Hana's roommate) Therese.  
> Owen wears a denim atrocity. Hana investigates the composition of a cannoli. Therese regrets.

“Hana, this is Owen. Owen, this is Hana. Both of you sit very still and don’t set the house on fire while I go get ready.” Therese stared between the two of them for a moment, as if considering how difficult a task that would be for them. Owen smiled from his position on Therese’s couch, already comfortable despite this being his first visit. Hana nodded, not looking up from the cannoli which she had acquired from a new vendor down the street and been staring at for the past hour. Neither of them seemed offended by the proclamation. Therese stared for a moment more, just in case, and went to her room to change.

“So you have been working with Therese in the field?” Hana asked, poking her cannoli with a scalpel that she had seemingly produced from midair.

“For the past few weeks,” Owen replied. “You too?”

“Yes, for a while now. The first time was an accident.”

“Yeah, it was that way for Therese and all of us, too.”

“I believe she is convinced I would die without her,” Hana said quietly, conspiratorially.

“Also same! Though, I mean, given the rest of my team I think she might not be wrong.”

Hana finished dissecting the remains of her pastry and slid it across the table, smiling back at Owen.

“I like your jacket,” she said, gesturing to his bright orange denim jacket, “the tulips embroidered on the collar were a very nice choice.”

Owen somehow brightened even further.

“Thanks! I thought so too! And I love your dress. You know, I’ve been telling Inanna that pink and green were a nice combination, but she didn’t believe me. I never thought to turn them into a camo pattern, though!”

A few moments later, Therese emerged from her bedroom wearing one of the three very sensible outfits she liked to alternate between. As she made her way toward the living room, however, Owen and Hana’s voices drifted toward her. She paused, squinting as she tried to make out what they were saying. Something about how underutilized contrasting colors were in modern fashion.

Therese groaned and went back to her room. Retreating felt a bit cowardly, but how else could she react to the realization of how big a mistake introducing the two of them was?


	2. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hana and Owen have a first date and try to learn about one another. It goes questionably.

“As this is our first date, I believe it would be prudent to ask one another a few personal questions,” Hana said, twisting her pasta with the salad fork. Owen nodded, adjusting the collar of his chartreuse jacket. He’d picked it to blend in in Seoul, though come to think of it maybe Dragon wouldn’t be as liable to trust anyone wearing their colors as Templar were.  

“Of course! You can go first, since it was your idea.”

“What is it, exactly, that you do?” Hana asked.

“Oh, I’m Inanna’s handler,” he replied. She laughed. It was a nice and solid laugh. A straight to the point sort of laugh. She tucked a bit of her pink hair behind her ear, her eyes dancing in the candlelight behind her bright yellow sunglasses. Shades inside the dark ambience of an Italian restaurant were an interesting choice, but Owen could appreciate sticking to her aesthetic.

“Yes, Inanna is the sort of person who would need a handler!”

Owen’s smile softened.

“Sometimes, yeah. I think a lot of it is just that she’s not used to having people around that might want her to take care of herself. But I’m not here to talk about Alessa, I’m here to talk about us.” The corners of his eyes wrinkled happily as he said that, and Hana had to resist the urge to reach out and poke them. Therese had told her touching people’s faces was not socially acceptable, after all.

In the far future, Hana would ask Therese why Owen was being reprimanded for all of Inanna’s failures. _Because he’s her handler?_ Therese would reply, quirking an eyebrow. _Oh,_ Hana replied. _I thought that was a joke about what a disaster she was._

“So, my turn,” Owen continued. “I’m going to cheat, a little bit, so feel free to say this isn’t a real question. But what’s one thing you want me to know if we’re going to be in a relationship?”

Hana paused, and Owen could practically see the gears turning in her brain. Metaphorically, of course.

“Well, I’m a robot,” she said finally, her voice flat. Owen’s smile dropped, and he reached forward to rest his hand on hers. The one that wasn’t stirring spaghetti, that is. He stared her directly in the eyes.

“Listen,” he told her seriously, “in this day and age I know women get a lot of flak if they aren’t expressive. But just because you’re not outward about your emotions all the time _doesn’t_ mean you aren’t a person. You have those emotions inside of you, and that’s what makes you human.”

Her lips parted in surprise. After a moment, a delighted realization spread across her face.

“You’re right,” she said. “I suppose that I _am_ a human after all. I’d never thought about it that way.” She twined her fingers with his. “Thank you, Owen.”

In the far future, Inanna would tease Owen for being in a relationship with a robot. It would take her a few moments to stop choking on her laughter after he reprimanded her for _being so cruel to Hana_ and tell him she was serious.

The waiter walked by their table, eyeing their clothing and sighing. Not for the first time, he regretted moving to this part of the city. Everyone dressed and acted so strangely around here.


	3. Theme Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hana and Owen go on a romantic theme park date.

Owen grinned at her from the murky black water, holding out a hand to her. She took it, using it as leverage to leap from her perch on the concrete barrier on the side of the large pool to the first of the half-submerged swan boats. He followed her, slipping a little in his wet pink converse before she caught him and pulled him up.

“Not quite as romantic as it used to be but I figured, uh…” Owen’s smile turned sheepish. Hesitance was a strange look on him, Hana decided. She filed the expression away, glad for another point in the ever widening dataset that was labeled Owen’s Smiles. “Well, this is still Lovers' lake.”

“My research _does_ tell me that visiting a theme park with one’s partner is romantic,” Hana replied, sitting down on the stained white back of the swan.

“Yeah? And what about your experiential data?” He asked, following her down and taking her hand.

“It tells me that the sky is a nice color tonight, and I am happy to be here with you.”

Owen glowed at that, despite not having any visible lighting beneath his skin. Hana leaned on his shoulder.

“I’m unsure if there are any carnival games left for you to win prizes for me at, however,” she continued, feeling a moment of disappointment.

“Would it be alright if instead of winning the squirt gun shoot or whatever we shot some zombies instead?” Owen asked. Hana nodded.

“Actually, that would be preferable. That way we can _both_ be the winners.”

Owen laughed.

“I was already counting this evening a win, but that’s a good point. You want to go first?”

Hana slid her rifle at her shoulder, feeling her lips curve into a smile as she took aim at a zombie on the other side of the lake. Oh, yes. This evening was already a win.


End file.
